quiltersmuse.com Blog

Human life is fraught with built-in perils. Most of us go along our merry way, either never thinking about “the end” or trying not to do so.

This morning, I woke up to a very kind invitation to join Facebook’s Sudden Cardiac Arrest Syndrome group, as a Fan. This heart condition is genetically-based and can affect athletes, children, and others. No one is immune from it, and it can strike at any time.

In my family, it took the lives of my two brothers, at ages 50 and 53. Then, it hit my only sister, who was resuscitated immediately but, with other complications, was in treatment for months. She is still living.

What happens? Unlike a standard heart attack per se, in a sudden cardiac arrest the “electrical wiring of the body stops working.” That is how the condition was explained to me. In other words, the brains forgets to send a message to the heart to keep on pumping.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is one who suffers from this malady. He has had a defibrillator installed, a small device that triggers the heart to begin beating again.

This heart condition can be determined by an EKG to see if a person has “Long Q-T,” a medical term that refers to arrythmia, or an irregular heart beat. Some cardiologists will prescribe Beta Blocker pills, that is, unless the patient is taking other medications that contraindicate that choice.

On the news, we often hear of children athletes who literally drop dead while running or playing a sport. It was reported that a full 50% of people who suffer from this syndrome are not treated until after their first attack, and 50% will not survive their first attack.

For those of us who cannot take preventive medications, like pills, every day is like lying on a bed with the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads by a thin piece of thread.

Why am I telling you this? As with anything else, “Knowledge is power.” Addressing this potential situation with your physician, during your next visit, could save your life. People with Sudden Cardiac Arrest Syndrome are most at risk when at work, or exercising. We hear of many policemen and fireman who succumb to this disease. That is related to having to jolt into action on a moment’s notice.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Down’s Syndrome Awareness Month, as well as the “Awareness Month” for several other organizations/causes of which I cannot recall their names, at the moment. Heart Health should be in our awareness, every month, and for that reason, I share this message.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications – Won’t you join us on Facebook?

Edie Clark, long time writer for Yankee Magazine, gave a wonderful talk about New England foods tonight. The lecture was sponsored by the NH Humanities Council and the meeting in the Congregational Church Hall in Hopkinton, New Hampshire attracted many people. She discussed Fanny Farmer and her famous cooking school in Boston; Julia Child of PBS fame and author of books about French cooking; and Hayden Pearson, an early New Hampshire writer of cookbooks. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing about typical New England dishes, and at least one of them was new to me: the fish, Shad. These series of lectures are free to the public and very worthwhile.

Jim’s baked beans and brown bread, typical New England fare.

On the way home, we saw tiny goslings with their two Canadian Geese parents, finding food on a Hopkinton lawn.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on ‘donating a mammogram’ for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn’t cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here’s the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Thanks to Mindy, for sending along this information to help disadvantaged women stay healthy!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

On the news tonight, there was an image of curly-tailed pigs and then the message that they will all be slaughtered in (Egypt?). Swine flu has crossed international boundaries and as you have heard, it has everyone in a panic. Those who are wearing masks are downright silly. The virus is so small, it can easily infiltrate a mask. We don’t stop to realize how co-dependent we are, as nations of the world, until something like this happens. In tandem with that thought is another one: how fragile human life really is.

The four year old boy in a remote mountain village of La Gloria, who reported the first symptoms, is totally recovered and happily playing. Children can be more resilient than we would expect. As the news reporter stated, diseases such as the flu, seem to attack those with pre-existing medical problems, or older adults.

This situation is not unlike the bovine disease that struck a few years ago, and just about every cow in England was killed, and the meat, wasted. I feel very bad for these animals, one moment happily living, and the next minute declared an enemy of the people!

Pigs are particularly intelligent, in spite of their reputation for rolling in the mud, eating babies that fall into their pens, and being outlawed as food, by certain religions. I have known people who have owned Pot-bellied pigs, and they claim that they are really good pets. Piglets are the cutest little animals, and thinking of animations, who among us did not love “Miss Piggie” of Sesame Street.

Every day, there is a new wrinkle. Sigh.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

Facebook, an interactive social network online, is more than what it might appear to be, at first glance. People connect there, in meaningful ways. It is on Facebook that I first became aware of a landscape quilt artist named Valerie Hearder. One can see Valerie’s beautiful work on her website. She travels the world to teach, as well she should, being so talented, and she has written several books. Her first one is already out of print. Valerie currently lives in Nova Scotia, Canada and has been quilting since 1972.

When I saw some intriguing folk art textiles from South Africa, on Facebook, I had to know more. I contacted Valerie and in so doing, was able to purchase a small, embroidered piece to help support the “Grandmother to Grandmother” Campaign. You see, due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in that country, the parents of children are dying, and grandmothers are left to care for not only their own grandchildren, but sometimes the children of neighbors. It is a dire situation. Valerie’s video on her Facebook page explains what is happening. The grandmothers are impoverished and sometimes very ill, but struggling to care for up to 20 children, in some cases.

This scan shows the design area only of a 10 1/2 x 11 embroidered textile on a black background. The black borders (not shown) extend about an inch (unevenly) all around. As you can see, the colors are vibrant. The word “Rose” is present, but whether or not that is the name of the artist remains to be seen. Very few different types of stitches were employed in this work that relies heavily on chain stitch. It is a pleasure to think that the purchase of this work may help to feed some children.

She reports that Canadian grandmothers have responded well to this textile initiative to help. She can barely fill the demand there, let alone supply these wonderful embroideries to all who would like to help. Fifteen per cent of sales goes to the Stephen Lewis Foundation that (presumably) filters financial resources back to the South African communities.

If you want to purchase one of these pieces from Valerie, keep in mind that her prices are listed in Canadian currency. You can adjust Paypal payments to pay the seller, in any other currency. If you “Google” Valerie’s name, you will see that she runs a yahoo group about Landscape Quilts. She is one busy lady, and I am so happy to have made her acquaintance, online.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications